In a cruel twist of fate, Jamal Murray and the Denver Nuggets suffered a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers at the hands of their own clutch free throw shooting. Again.
Murray tried to keep the Nuggets in the game late as best he could, dunking over Brook Lopez and hitting a twisting three-pointer to keep Denver attached. With 9 seconds left and a chance to tie the game with a three, Murray was then fouled on a three-point shot with 0.9 seconds to go.
It was Déjà Vu for Murray, who had a chance to redeem an earlier loss to the Detroit Pistons in which he missed foul shots late while down three points. Unfortunately, it ended up the same, with Murray making his first two free throws before missing the third. The Nuggets lost 115-114 to the Clippers to kick off the post All-Star schedule in poor fashion.
Neither Murray nor Nikola Jokic were nearly good enough throughout most of the game to earn a victory. Murray had 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists but shot just 5-of-15 throughout the contest and had four turnovers and two missed free throws, including the game-tying shot at the end.
Jokic was worse throughout the evening with 22 points and 6 assists compared to 6 turnovers. The best player in the world shot 0-of-6 from three was was consistently short on his jump shots. He managed an impressive 17 rebounds, but the Nuggets couldn’t count on their two-man game throughout the night and it cost them in the clutch once again.
This was the first game back from the All-Star break, and yet both players still appeared incredibly fatigued. Usually, the break is a time for rest, but the Nuggets stars appeared anything but well-rested. While All-Star can be very busy and have several events and…other opportunities, it’s on Denver’s leaders to lead, but it didn’t appear that they were ready to win a game yesterday.
Those performances took away from what was otherwise a nice game from a variety of players on the roster.
Christian Braun was quintessential in taking on the Kawhi Leonard assignment defensively, minimizing his impact in a significant way. Leonard had just 23 points on 18 shots to go with 3 assists, a relatively ineffective game for the star forward. Braun had 3 steals, 3 assists, and played the role of “stopper” reasonably well.
Julian Strawther made plays as the starter when it was widely assumed Spencer Jones would return to a starting role. Strawther made David Adelman’s decision look good by shooting 6-of-10 from three-point range for 18 points and leading the team with a +6 plus-minus in his 25 minutes.
Bruce Brown scored 16 points off the bench in the first half alone, keeping the Nuggets ahead throughout the first half despite the struggles of Jokic and Murray. Brown finished with 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists in what was likely his most productive game of the season.
Cam Johnson had 18 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds in what was a solid performance of his own, showing he’s mostly back to the form the Nuggets hoped he would be.
Truly, the Nuggets win this game if Jokic and Murray step up sooner. They each had positive moments in the fourth quarter, but the first three quarters were a mess collectively. That hurt Denver’s ability to gain separation. Benedict Mathurin smelled blood in the water throughout the night against Denver’s perimeter and interior coverage, scoring 38 points as the best player on a floor that included Jokic, Murray, and Leonard.
The Nuggets had their chances throughout and ultimately let them slip through the cracks.
That was the first game of the post All-Star break stretch. There’s another on Friday night in a back-to-back against the Portland Trail Blazers, and it isn’t expected to get any easier. The Blazers are fully rested and are also competing with the Clippers in the play-in tournament, so there will be plenty of effort being given by Portland.
Can the Nuggets match that energy on a back-to-back? If they want to make a statement to themselves that they’re good enough to win a championship, they have to start winning some games and a good rate again, especially the clutch games.
We will see if they can. The first test of post All-Star Nuggets didn’t exactly go according to plan.